Specialisation

I am specialised in

Interests

Research interests

I am a behavioural ecologist focussed on studying consistent individual differences (animal personality), social behaviour, and trophic interactions in coastal ecosystems. Particularly, I am interested in studying how different phenotypes interact with the environment to shape movement, spatial distributions and fitness. In my studies, I combine experiments, modelling, field observations, and the latest tracking technologies. I have mainly studied marine macrozoobenthos and birds, but I will expand my research to include fish.

If you are interested in a project or a collaboration with me, please feel free to send me an e-mail or contact me on Twitter @AllertBijleveld.

Functions

Functions

2017 - present: Tenure-track scientist at NIOZ

2016 - 2017: Visiting academic at the University of Oxford

2015 - 2017: Post-doctoral researcher at NIOZ

2007-2009: Project-researcher at NIOZ

2003-2007: Teaching assistent at the University of Amsterdam

Publications

Publications

Please find my list of publications at the bottom of this webpage or on GoogleScholar. You can download all my publications on ResearchGate.

Education

Professional education

2009-2015: PhD - Untying the knot: Mechanistically understanding the interactions between social foragers and their prey. NIOZ / University of Groningen (cum laude)

2007: MSc Ecology & Evolution, University of Amsterdam with a specialization in Animal Ecology (cum laude)

Awards and Prizes

The prize was awarded by Dr Hessel Speelman, member of the Jury and board member(chair) of Wadden Academy.

Waddenacademie Prize

The Waddenacademie Prize is intended for students who have completed the best Wadden-related PhD thesis.

Other

Research video's

Do Red Knots use each other to find their hidden food?
The video below shows an experiment that we designed to answer this question. In the Experimental Shorebird Facility we constructed two patches and burried food in only one. We then released two Red Knots on each patch. We also released a focal bird in a central cage that was located in between the two patches. This bird was then allowed to watch the two groups of foraging birds on both sides. After 2 minutes the central cage was opened and the focal bird was allowed to exit to either side. The results show that in 75% of the trials Red Knots chose that side of the experimental arena where the food was buried. This show that Red Knots can use social information to be more efficient in finding their hidden food. You can find the scientific publication here.

Red knot foraging experiment
Here is a movie that shows the experimental setup for a foraging experiment on Red Knots (Calidris canutus islandica). The experiment was designed to study patch departure decisions for red knots foraging in a patchy food environment. Foragers should not stay in a patch too long and waste time searching for that last prey item while other food patches have more to offer. On the other hand, foragers should not depart a patch too soon and leave many prey items behind. Depending on the density and distribution of food, one can calculate the optimal departure decision that foragers should use that maximises intake rate. We want to find out how and if red knots make optimal foraging decisions.

The movie below shows two golden plovers that we tracked with our novel 'time-of-arrival' methodology. This movie is part of our publication in LIMOSA.